I've been on social media today saying this, but worth mentioning in here:
The knights removed all advertising from their rink boards for their home opener and replaced it with 'Vegas strong'. Tonight, for their home opener, of which there will be exactly one for all time, they dropped all the gala extravaganza and decided to just honour victims and first responders. They will do their 'official' grand opening on Friday. This is a class move for the ages, and one that deserves an awful lot of respect.

They're so fast. They've picked up a ton of guys who were kind of underused or maybe misused on their previous teams. Leipsic is a good example, and Neal is still a bonafide goal scorer. Lots of 2/3rd line tweeners, but if a couple of those guys progress into legit top 6 guys, their skill could take them pretty far.

I love that they don't have the traditional NHL fourth line. No need to waste ice time on a line that won't be able to do anything. They got a bunch of these younger guys who have potential to breakout, play fast, and have a knack for scoring.

They're hella fun to watch. I agree we can't put too much stock in this week, but it's been impressive (though they got outplayed heavily vs Dallas, IIRC, and Arizona is pretty bad...).

you're right, they are fast. The D has depth, the fwds are ok. And obv Fleury can be great.

I just think we will see the initial high of this new team wear off over time. whether this lasts another week, or 2/3, in time this team will start to lose games once the dog days of the NHL season are here. Other teams will start to bear down against them, not take them lightly, and Vegas' players wont have the same drive as they do now in all these "first" game situations.

Interesting team. I watched them some in preseason and now have watched all of their games. Scoring depth is an issue. But they are playing a very aggressive forecheck, and come up the ice fast. Teams will make mistakes playing them. Their D is average at best, but they're playing a nice team system that seems to mitigate that a bit. Fleury has been on another planet. Can they keep it up? No. but they're better than expected. In a playoff hockey scenario (not saying they will make the playoffs, but referring to the style and intensity of playoff hockey), they will get exposed. Not deep enough, and most teams roll four lines, knights dont. But overall, very impressive for an expansion team. And they are doing EVERYTHING right in the marketing department. Their Twitter is a must follow. Lol

1) The team that is 3-0 currently isn't even the best team we could ice right now. Vadim Shipachov, Shea Theodore, and Alex Tuch were all demoted because they can't be claimed on waivers, while George McPhee tries to milk out some value for an overcrowded defense. Luca Sbisa, John Merrill, and Clayton Stoner were all guys acquired at the expansion draft and sending them down could mean they get claimed and you get no value for them. At some point McPhee just needs to cut his losses, because Theodore belongs in the NHL now and Shipachov is NOT happy coming over from the KHL at 30 to play in the minors. In fact, he won't report and wants to go home. This is a bit of a shit show, but since the team is winning that likely means the issue won't be resolved quickly.

2)The defense. Its good. The PK was quite good in all 3 games and we have a good core that could be part of this teams future- Nate Schmidt, Colin Miller, Brayden McNabb, and Shea Theodore. The rest of the group is a no frills, solid, responsible group. Not flashy, but above average dmen.

3) The 4th line. This team was built via a group of 3rd line players. Our 3rd and 4th line combo is among the top end of the league as a result. I keep getting shit for my Tomas Nosek love doing local radio here, but he is always in the right place! Not giving the puck away, finishing checks, and has had several chances to score in limited ice time and got one last night.

4) Fleury. He didn't have a defense to play behind in Pittsburgh of late that looked like this one. While the Pens won the cup, they didn't do it via a stellar back end, they won in spite of it. Fleury can't keep up this pace but I don't see him falling off a cliff at any point this season.

5) The Power Play. It has struggled, but I like what Gallant is trying to do with it. We don't have high end skill to depend on so puck movement is paramount and this team really does move the puck well on the PP. Quick passing is creating lots of open point shots for the D who I expect to score a lot for this team. Someone needs to score other than James Neal!

Daniel, would be curious to know your thoughts on the experience at the game yesterday, in terms of fan experience.

How is the arena? (it looks amazing, and I guess now with preseason you've seen a few games there?)

What is the crowd like? I'm assuming you cant really tell yet if its all local vs tourist?
I don't imagine you can answer this, but I would be curious to know of the crowd that is local, how many of them are actually transplanted northeners that now live in Vegas, ie Canada/Northern US states. I wonder if there are a lot of people new to hockey.

I guess the other issue is, can you even read anything into it with everything thats happened the last 10 days?

While the crowd is still clearly learning the game the energy was truly amazing and I would guess the percentage of locals for the opener was extremely high. Obviously it started out with the emotional ceremony and 58 seconds where you could here a pin drop. In my section during the preseason I was essentially "teaching" people around me what icing was, etc. but they are learning fast.
Lots of jerseys around town for sure. I also did two different post game radio shows, one right outside at the Beerhaus and then later at the Orleans with locals. The turnout at Orleans wasn't "great" but its a start.

I also don't think people really understand how absurd this start is and there is some concern that they think this is normal so if we lose 8 straight they could be getting a reality check, but I don't think the support will wane honestly. Had many people at their first ever game saying they will come to every game.

The arena is perfectly located, parking and leaving is surprisingly efficient. Security lines getting in were a problem, took about 15 minutes but supposedly they are working on it. Lots of fun stuff and tailgating around the arena before the event. Corn hole, hockey sticks, fun games all around there.

Overall A+ atmosphere for the opener. Friday is the "true" opener since they put aside much of what they had originally planned to keep the focus on the community after the tragedy which I think they handled perfectly. Home run with Englend and his speech.

MapleLeafpoker, on 11 October 2017 - 12:11 PM, said:

Daniel, would be curious to know your thoughts on the experience at the game yesterday, in terms of fan experience.

How is the arena? (it looks amazing, and I guess now with preseason you've seen a few games there?)

What is the crowd like? I'm assuming you cant really tell yet if its all local vs tourist?
I don't imagine you can answer this, but I would be curious to know of the crowd that is local, how many of them are actually transplanted northeners that now live in Vegas, ie Canada/Northern US states. I wonder if there are a lot of people new to hockey.

I guess the other issue is, can you even read anything into it with everything thats happened the last 10 days?